When Octavia came down the stairs to get to the kitchen that Sunday morning, whatever anxiety she felt yesterday had dwindled by quite a fair amount. After snuggling with Snowflake for an hour, she practically fell asleep with her in her arms and continued to do so for most of the night. It wasn't by much but at the very least, she felt a little bit better when she woke up.
By the time she made it down to the foyer, the Kitsune pup was at her feet almost instantly. Having not seen her or Mick all day, yesterday, Octi could only assume that Snowflake must have felt pretty lonely. In fact, she would even hazard a guess that she felt almost as bad as when Mrs Deagle kept her a prisoner for about a week. Luckily, Octavia knew of a sure way to fix that.
"You up for some bacon, girl?" she asked the tiny fox.
To her delight, and yet no surprise, Snowflake responded to that question with a happy yip and a small bounce around Octavia's feet. However, before the pair of them even made it three feet towards the direction of the kitchen, their attention was suddenly drawn to the sound of someone clearing their throat. Turning her head, Octavia had to stop herself from releasing an irritated groan as she saw Reginald graciously walking towards her and Snowflake.
"What is it, Reginald?" she asked impatiently, wanting to get back to her planned visit to the kitchen as quickly as possible.
"Begging your pardon, Miss Goetia," Reginald replied respectfully. "But your mother is requesting that you join her on the terrace at once."
The moment the Imp said those words, Octavia felt an instant lump in her throat. Whenever her mother would invite her to join her on the terrace, that usually meant having tea and scones, and 8 times out of 10, it also meant that she had an ulterior motive to do so and just wanted to be sneaky about it. And whenever her MOTHER wants to be subtle, that is an instant red flag for any day of the week in Octavia's mind. Nodding her head in understanding, the moody Princess reluctantly followed the Butler as he led her towards the back of the house.
The terrace was certainly one of the more tranquil looking areas on the Goetia property, no questions asked. A large stone area just outside the glass doors of the ballroom, surrounded by small walls decorated with draping flowers of many different breeds. There, Octavia was greeted by the stoic face of her mother sitting at one of the small white tables that were situated all over the area, sipping a cup of tea.
"Ah, Octavia," she said, turning to acknowledge her daughter's presence. "So glad you could join me. Please, sit."
Daring not to refuse, Octavia let out a small sigh and complied with her mother's request. Once she sat down she was greeted with a small spread consisting of a small pot of tea and a few assorted foods, from scones to English muffins. If anything this seemed to be the perfect pallet for someone looking for a very light breakfast.
"Hell Grey Tea?" Stella offered, gesturing a hand to the teapot.
Octavia let out a small sigh at that.
"I prefer coffee, thank you," she replied, politely refusing the offer.
Stella, however, let out a small sigh of her own at that.
"You really shouldn't drink that swill, dear," she commented, snapping her fingers and having Reginald pour her a cup of tea anyway. "Too much caffeine can spoil your figure."
And there it is! Not two minutes in, and already the criticism begins to flow. Time to try and wrap up this little conversation as quickly as possible and jump straight to the point.
"Was there something you wanted to see me about, mum?" Octavia asked, reluctantly picking up her cup of tea and bringing it to her beak.
"Does a mother truly need a reason to ask her daughter to join her for breakfast?" Stella asked back, her tone of voice hinting at a subtle moment of pained insult.
At those words, Octavia couldn't help but feel a little guilty. Perhaps this WAS one of the rare moments that Stella actually WANTED to spend time with her daughter just because. Then again, to be fair, those moments are so far between, it was usually hard for Octavia to tell at times.
"I suppose not," she sighed. "Sorry, mum."
"That's quite alright, dear," Stella replied, gesturing a hand to another plate on the table. "Scone?"
After that came a few blissful moments of tranquil silence between the two Owl Demons, both of them looking at each other without a hint of disdain or aggression as they helped themselves to numerous foods on the table. Finally, after about five minutes, Stella eventually broke the silence.
"Did you enjoy yourself with… your father yesterday?" she asked, her voice definitely sounding like it was riddled with disgust during the second part.
"It was… okay," Octavia answered awkwardly, not really wanting to say anything more than that.
"JUST okay?" Stella replied.
Ugh! Why did her mother have to push like this!? What the hell is Octavia even supposed to say to that!? She obviously couldn't go into full detail about what happened yesterday, otherwise, Stella was sure to go into yet another fit of rage. How else would she react if she found out the same Imp who was having an affair with her husband was playing the part of his and her daughter's bodyguard for a good chunk of the day?
"It… got a little rocky at first," the Goetia Princess eventually answered, trying to be as vague as possible so Stella didn't catch on. "But it turned out alright in the end."
Thankfully, Stella didn't push her daughter any further than that, seeming somewhat satisfied with her reply.
"I see," she uttered, her tone giving the smallest hint of disappointment. "Well, that's nice dear."
Given the way she responded to that, it was clear to Octavia that her mother had no real interest in how the day went. More than likely she only asked such a question so that she could get some dirt on Stolas. She would never openly admit it, but if there was one thing Stella was known for, it was being petty. Suddenly, both Goetias' attentions were drawn to Reginald clearing his throat, pulling out a small envelope from behind his back and handing it over to Stella.
"The morning mail, Madame," he said, his tone just as lifeless as ever.
Not even considering giving the Imp any notion of gratitude, Stella didn't say a single word as she snatched the envelope from his hand and opened it up. Once again, the Owl Demon's disdain for the lower-class rears its ugly head.
"Ah, your Uncle Malphas has agreed to join us for the banquet next month," she declared, skimming through the enclosed letter. "Seems like he's inquiring whether it's alright to provide him lodging for that evening."
Hearing that particular name, Octavia was quickly taken by surprise.
"Uncle Malphas is coming?" she asked, her surprise quickly changing into confusion when the other part of her mother's sentence registered in her mind. "Wait… WHAT banquet?"
At those words, Stella lowered the letter and gave her daughter a look of uncertainty.
"Were you not informed, dear?" she asked, earning a shake of Octavia's head in response. "I see… Well, for clarity's sake, we will be hosting a banquet during next month's New Moon. A great number of esteemed Demons will be there, including certain other members of the Ars Goetia and their families. As I understand it, your Aunt Gremory will also be in attendance."
"Really?" Octavia uttered, wondering it was only NOW she was hearing of this. Just how long was this event planned without her knowing?
"On that note, I have a small task for you,"
The moment Stella finished speaking, she then snapped her fingers once again. This time, Reginald's response was to walk up to the table and place a bulging, cream-coloured folder on the table. Seeing this, Octavia couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, wondering just what in the actual hell was going on through her mother's head.
"THESE are all our confirmed guests so far," Stella explained, sliding the folder across the table until it was in front of her daughter. "You will need to study the details on all of them before the month is out."
And THERE'S the ulterior motive! Once again, Octavia found herself caught in one of her mother's little schemes. The invite to breakfast, merely a ploy to get her alone so that she could spring all this new info on her. Needless to say, Octavia wasn't pleased.
"Oh, come on!" she exclaimed, burying her face in her beanie.
"Furthermore, you will also be spending your free time learning the proper ways to utilize any information you've learned from the files, and weave them into the proper etiquette you'll be using to address each guest." Stella continued, ignoring her daughter's outburst. "I'll have no mistakes made during the banquet."
However, Octavia was NOT going to take this lying down.
"But mum, I already know all that!" she argued. "You've practically drummed into me since I was 6!"
"There is ALWAYS room for improvement, dear," Stella retorted, her voice low and piercing as if she were meaning it to be a threat.
Not wanting to invoke her mother's anger, Octavia quickly sighed in defeat.
"Ugh… fine!" she exclaimed, rubbing two fingers over the oncoming migraine she was starting to feel.
"Very good," Stella replied, clearly satisfied due to the small smirk stretching across her beak. "With that settled, you might as well make a start on those files right now. I expect you to have at least two of those guests fully memorised by the end of the day."
Octavia quickly rose from the table the moment those words, a sudden look of desperation spreading across her face.
"What!? No!" she protested, slamming her hands against the table. "Mum, I have plans!"
Stella, however, wasn't the least bit phased by that statement.
"Well, cancel them, dear," she ordered sternly. "Whatever it is, I can assure you that THIS is far more important. Nothing matters more than our family name."
At those words, Octavia wanted nothing more than to just walk over to the nearest flowerbed and bury her head in the dirt. Did her mother really not care that her daughter might just have a LIFE outside of all the Demon Royalty bullshit!? And what about Mick!? How was she going to explain to him what's going on? Knowing her mother, she'll probably have one of the servants keep an eye on her in case she decides to slack off in any way. Ergo, it's going to be impossible to let Mick know anything about this without Stella figuring out that the two of them were meeting each other every Sunday. If that were to happen, who knows what Stella will do!?
As Octavia began to reel over this in her head, all of a sudden, her attention was drawn to a small yip and a tiny paw scraping at her leg. Looking down, her anxiety was quickly replaced by a tinge of guilt when she saw Snowflake's pleading face looking back at her as she sat on her haunches with her paws raised.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, sweetie," she said, quickly taking a small piece of smoked Leviathan Salmon and offering it to the Kitsune pup.
It may not have been bacon like Octavia promised, but Snowflake seemed to enjoy it nonetheless. In fact, she was so satisfied that she wags her tails and gave Octavia's hand a grateful lick, causing a small giggle to escape the Goetia Demon's beak at how much it tickled. Seeing the display from her seat, Stella let out a small disgusted groan.
"Ugh… must you bring this… creature to the table?" she asked, not even bothering to hide her dislike for the Kitsune. "It's bad enough it has free reign of the house. Hell, I'm surprised you haven't gotten it stuffed yet."
Hearing that, Snowflake quickly hid behind Octavia's legs in fear, almost as if she were taking Stella's comment to heart. As for Octavia, her scowl showed just how much she disliked her mother's comment about the poor thing.
"Snowflake just happens to be quite the loving pet, mum," she stated defiantly, picking the tiny fox up and cradling her in her arms to emphasise her point. "And SHE hasn't been any trouble for the family, has she?"
Needless to say, Stella did not like being spoken to with such defiance.
"So you say," she said, trying to remain as calm as possible. "But I know that thing is more trouble than it's worth. Just be sure to keep it out of my bedroom."
Seeing this as a good excuse to remove herself from the conversation, Octavia gave her mother a quick nod.
"Of course," she replied, scooping up the folder from the table and walking away. "Thanks for the breakfast."
Seeing no further reason to continue the argument, Stella felt no hesitation in letting her daughter leave. But not without getting one final word in.
"Oh, and Octavia," she said, catching her attention just before she carried Snowflake into the house. "When you look through those files, be sure to pay special attention to the ones with gold stars on them. They'll be important later."
Despite not knowing what her mother meant by that, Octavia wasn't going to enquire about it. The sooner she left this conversation the better.
"Yes, mum,"
"Argh! She is unbelievable!"
Before long, Octavia once again found herself lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling with an agitated scowl upon her face. After once again dealing with her mother's manipulation for what felt like the millionth time in her life, all the Goetia Demon wanted to do was vent in the privacy of her bedroom.
"Every fucking time, she pulls shit like this!" she continued. "For fuck's sake, why do I keep falling for it!?"
Burying her face in her beanie, Octavia was so wrapped up in her own frustration that she barely noticed when a second figure walked across her duvet next to her. It was only when she felt a small weight on her stomach that she peeked an eye from her hat, finding Snowflake's tiny body laying down on her belly with a sad look on her face. Unable to resist such a cute face, Octavia couldn't help but smile a little as she gave the Kitsune pup a scratch behind her ear.
"What am I gonna do, Snowflake?" she asked, letting out a small sigh. "You have any ideas for me?"
Despite knowing that the little fox couldn't answer her, it was still nice for Octavia to have someone to talk to in this situation. Nowadays it would normally be Mick who she could confide in, but given the circumstances, that was going to prove near impossible for the next month. The moment that particular thought crossed her mind, Octavia quickly sat up with a look of horror on her face, almost flinging Snowflake off the bed in the process.
"Oh, shit!" she exclaimed. "Mick's probably gonna be waiting for me. How am I supposed to tell him what's happening!?"
That was indeed a good question. As far as Octavia knew, Mick still didn't have a Hellphone, so she couldn't send him a text. As for speaking with him directly, that was going to be near impossible since A: she wasn't supposed to go to the Servant's Quarters and even if she could, her mother would know about it before long. And B: she couldn't ask any one of the other servants to do it, since a good number of them would rat her out to Stella if she asked them. In other words, she was screwed.
Snowflake, however, didn't seem to be as anxious, in fact, as she clawed her way back up onto the top of the bed, her little face seemed to be filled with determination. Looking around the room, the Kitsune let out a small yip and jumped back down to the floor. Curious, Octavia found herself watching the tiny fox scurry across the room, towards the small work desk where she had left the folder her mother gave her earlier. At first, she thought Snowflake was trying to get to her little diary or start ripping the file up in her mouth, but soon enough Octavia was caught by surprise when the little fox jumped up onto the chair, climbed up onto the desk, and held up a small envelope. Stepping closer towards the desk, Octavia then extended her hand and allowed Snowflake to drop the envelope in her palm. At first, she had no idea what the Kitsune pup was trying to tell her, after all, it was nothing more than a simple envelope, one of many that she used to send… letters.
"Wait, you want me to…" the Goetia finally uttered, her face slowly brightening up as the gears in her head started turning. "What a fantastic idea! But how am I going to get it to-"
Before Octavia could even finish her question, Snowflake let out another yip and sat up on her haunches again. After yipping a few more times, Octavia finally got the little fox's message.
"You'll take it to him?" she asked, earning herself another wag of the fox's tails. "Snowflake, you little genius. Thank you."
At that moment, Octavia scooped up the Kitsune and gave her a small squeeze. Once again, Snowflake has shown just how much she was worth to the Goetia Princess.
It was about 20 minutes later when Octavia had finally written her letter to Mick. At this point, the Owl Demon was trying to tie the envelope to the front of Snowflake's collar, making it look like she was a St Bernard with its tiny collar barrel. Once she was sure the letter was securely attached, Octavia then gave the Kitsune another scratch behind the ear and a small smile.
"Okay, take this down to Mick and DON'T let my mum see you," she instructed, hoping the tiny fox was able to understand her well enough to follow her directions to the letter. "And if you come back with a reply and it's TWO treats for you."
At those words, Snowflake once again let out a happy yip in response. Unable to resist smiling again, Octavia then scooped up the two-tailed fox and carried her to the door.
"Remember, do NOT be seen," she whispered, giving Snowflake a small kiss on the head before setting her down. "Good luck."
With that final word and a small push of the door, Snowflake was off down the hall.
Now, Octavia may not have known what happened after she shut her door, but the moment she did, she unknowingly set Snowflake off on her own tiny adventure. Granted, this wasn't the first time she travelled through the Goetia home. However, this would be the first time she had to do it without being seen… to her it was actually kind of fun.
Keeping to the sides of the corridor, ducking under random pieces of furniture like a startled cat now and then, the little fox carefully made her way past the vast number of rooms, searching for the shortest route to the stairs. Thankfully most of the doors she walked by were all closed, so there was no chance of her being seen then, however, the two-tailed fox still needed to be extra careful when sneaking past, especially when she saw that someone was inside. One such example was when she passed the open door of one of the guest bedrooms, where Jewel was in there turning down the bed.
"Fucking hell, where does he even get this kinky shit?" the Maid thought aloud pulling an assortment of leather straps from under the sheets, a small smirk creeping across her face. "I do hope it's local."
Already having seen how Mick reacts whenever this particular Imp enters the room, Snowflake knew that there was no way she was going to let her spot her if she could help it. So being as quiet as possible, she simply crept by the doorway as usual and bolted at full speed the moment she was on the other side of it.
Scurrying along until she reached the end of the corridor, Snowflake eventually reached the top of the staircase that led straight down into the foyer. However, looking down at them, the Kitsune pup figured that it was too high to climb down for a creature of her size, especially if she didn't want to be noticed. Luckily, she knew of a faster way down. Making a small detour towards a nearby cabinet, Snowflake then climbed up onto it, using the knobs on the drawers, crouched down and leapt across the walkway straight onto the bannister like a nimble cat. Once safely on top, the little fox scurried towards the top of the stairs, sat herself down and prepared herself for the most exciting part…
WHOOSH!
No more than two seconds later, Snowflake was practically soaring through the air, sliding down the bannister like a water slide before launching off the very end and landing straight into a large flower pot filled with petunias. Shaking herself off, she then jumped out of the pot, landed on the floor and continued on.
Soon enough, however, the little fox ran into a brand new problem. Normally, whenever she wanted to go down to the Servant's Quarters, Snowflake would sit by one of the hidden elevator entrances until someone used them to get around. However, since she was short on time and had to be more discreet than she normally would, that option was not in the cards. But, of course, the smart little Kitsune had a solution for this too.
Once again taking a detour from her direct route, Snowflake turned towards the opposite direction of the elevator and scurried towards an adjoining corridor on the other side of the stairs. Once there, she continued to carefully stick to the sides of the hallway, ducking under different types of furniture as she went and passing by numerous rooms. However, the moment she heard a familiar voice coming from behind the closed door of Stolas's study, the tiny fox couldn't help but stop and put her ear to the wood of it to satisfy her sudden curiosity.
"Oh come now Blitzy, when have I ever gone too far with our little rendezvous?" she heard Stolas say as he speaks to someone over the phone, raising a tiny eyebrow as she wondered who the giant Owl Demon was talking to. "Okay, so maybe inviting the monkey that one time was a mistake… but don't tell me you didn't enjoy it at the time."
Recognising that particular tone of voice, Snowflake knew better than to continue listening, lest she wanted to be traumatised for the rest of her life. Quickly running away from the door, she then continued on until finally, she came to a small grate built into the base of the wall behind a display case filled with moon-themed weapons. Pushing herself under the case, Snowflake then pressed a paw over the grate and pushed it open like a cat flap. Having already done this on more than one occasion, she felt no hesitation whatsoever when she casually walked into the small air vent, a small metal space that only a creature of her size could squeeze through with ease.
With her night vision and keen sense of smell, it was practically a breeze for Snowflake to navigate through the dark metal labyrinth that was the mansion's ventilation system. However, it wasn't without its drawbacks. Every other turn she had to double back to make sure she was going the right way due to certain smells getting crossed in the middle of a T connection. Eventually, Snowflake found the part of the vent she was looking for, a small, metal flap at the base that connected this vent to a second one underneath. With a little effort, the tiny fox pried open the flap and slid under it, causing her to slide down an angled shaft down into the second vent. A few moments of scurrying later, she eventually found her exit.
Peering through the grate, Snowflake almost yipped in delight when she saw the Servants' kitchen down below, along with the Chef, who was dining to himself as he fished out a tray full of sausage-filled pastries out of the oven.
Chef:
Hey ho and up she rises,
Hey ho and up she rises,
Hey ho and up she rises, early in the morning!
Shave his belly with a rusty razor,
Shave his belly with a rusty razor,
Shave his belly with a rusty razor, early in the morning!
Heave, ho and up she rises,
Heave, ho and up she rises,
Heave, ho and up she rises, early in the morning!
With the Chef distracted with his own merry tune, tapping his enormous crab-like legs to the beat, Snowflake quickly seized her chance. With one gentle push, she opened the vent like a cat flap once again and made her way onto one of the overhead shelves situated on the wall. Weaving through the cans and jars filled with seasonings, the Kitsune pup peaked down over the edge. Seeing that the Chef was still wrapped up in his singing while cutting vegetables just below her, Snowflake quickly jumped off, bouncing off the Chef's back and landing on the workstation just behind him. Luckily the Chef couldn't feel anything hit his enormous shell even if it was as strong as a bullet. Hell, most bullets bounced off armour that thick, so Snowflake had no trouble avoiding the Chef's gaze before he even turned around.
Chef:
Throw im' into bed with the captain's daughter,
Throw im' into bed with the captain's daughter,
Throw im' into bed with the captain's daughter, early in the morning!
Heave, ho and up she rises,
Heave, ho and up she rises,
Heave, ho and up she rises, early in the-
The moment he did turn around, the Chef suddenly stopped singing, flabbergasted at the sight of what was behind him.
"What in blazes!?" he exclaimed, rushing over to the tray of pastries he just took out of the oven. "I'm sure there were 10 here."
Alas, no matter how many times the Chef counted, he would always come up short due to a certain little thief pinching a small snack as she jumped off the kitchen unit via a sack of potatoes and quickly scurried out of the kitchen and down the hall. Having experienced something like this before, however, the Chef had a very strong idea of who was responsible.
"Bah, that scurvied little pest!"
When Mick eventually pried open his eyes, he found himself splayed out on his own bed in the Servants' Quarters, his body aching in several places. Looking down at himself, he saw that he had been bandaged over numerous areas including his arms and torso. Not only that, but when he went to touch his face Mick quickly noticed that the mouthpiece of his mask was missing. Thankfully, he didn't need to look far since it was currently sitting atop the foot of his bed.
Gasping in realisation as small fragments of memory about the previous day began to flood back to him, Mick suddenly sat up straight and began to pat himself down. Quickly realising that he was currently shirtless, he desperately hoped that whatever he was looking for was still on his person somewhere. Eventually, he was able to sigh in relief upon pulling out his Rosario from his front pants pocket. Placing a hand over his throbbing chest, he couldn't help but thank his lucky stars that he still had it even after his little stunt yesterday. He would never forgive himself if he were ever to lose it, much less in such a ludicrous manner.
"Hey, he lives!"
Startled by the sound of his roommate's voice, Mick considered himself quite lucky at some point in the last month, the marijuana leaves that grew all over the room managed to form a type of bed curtain made of its leaves that separated the two beds in the room. It wasn't much, but it did provide Mick with a little more privacy than he originally had. Reattaching his mouthpiece and pulling back the leaf curtain, he found Buzz sitting in his junk-filled hammock, watching something on his Hellphone.
Since they both shared the same room, the diminutive Imp also had Sundays off, which was why neither of them would be woken up by the morning alarm even if one of them didn't have to work. As such, while Mick usually spent his days off visiting Octavia in the library, he does get to spend a little time down here with Buzz too, during which they would either play cards or watch movies on their Hellphones. Sometimes they would even make bets on the exploits of the other staff members, or even Stolas and Stella. Of course, Mick made sure the line was drawn at Octavia. The one thing he won't do is talk shit about one of his friends behind their back… which was why he never usually had anything to say about Buzz either.
"What happened?" he asked, his mind still a little fuzzy as he slowly dragged his feet out of bed.
"You got knocked the fuck out, that's what happened," Buzz replied, trying and failing to hold back a snicker. "You came home last night covered in scrapes, bruises and half a window. So I had to drag your ass in here and patch you up with what I had on hand."
"Oh jeez," Mick exclaimed, the overwhelming surge of embarrassment eclipsing anything else he might have felt. "Well… thanks for that."
Buzz couldn't help but smile at that. If there was one thing he liked, it was being appreciated.
"No problemo," he replied, turning back to his Hellphone. "How's your head?"
"I feel like a puppy who's been raped by a bulldozer," Mick replied, feeling that being the most accurate way of describing how much he was aching at this point.
"Yeah, I'll bet," Buzz commented, once again trying to hold back his laughter, his face contorted with desperate attempts to keep so much as a titter from popping out. "L-Lovely weather for flying yesterday, eh?"
The moment those particular words left the Imp's mouth, Mick's eyes shrank in horror and he practically felt his heart stop all over again. No. There's no possible way that Buzz could have been talking about THAT… could he?
"Uh… why would you-" he began, only to feel his own words get lodged in his throat as Buzz suddenly turned his Hellphone around to show him exactly what he had just been watching. "Aw FUCK!"
Just as Mick had feared, the video that was playing on the phone was indeed the events recorded from the previous day. From the looks of it, it was recorded by one of the Imps watching the whole hang glider fiasco from the streets below. As such, they were able to get a decent angle-shot of him smashing through the window. At this point, Buzz couldn't hold back his laughter any longer. The moment Mick started watching the video, he was rolling on the floor, cackling like a lunatic in seconds.
"BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You… you actually flew through a…hahahahaha!" the Imp tried to say, unable to get a clear sentence out until he calmed down a bit. "I… I gotta say, you definitely know how to take a hit… Crazy Cat."
Unfortunately for Buzz, even after only a single day, that particular name had become a type of trigger for Mick. Before the Imp even realised what was happening, he suddenly found himself pinned against the leaf-covered wall, lifted off the ground with Mick's tail wrapped around his neck.
"Call me that again, and I'll flush you down the toilet after Chef has finished using it," he threatened, his voice riddled with a carriage snarl as he gave Buzz a soft glare.
…
"Noted."
Satisfied with Buzz's strangled response Mick instantly let the Imp drop to the floor. He may have liked the guy but even Mick had his limits when it came to Buzz's antics. At that moment, the pair suddenly heard a faint scratching coming from the other side of the door.
"What was that?" Buzz thought aloud.
Having a strong hunch on the answer to that particular question, Mick remained silent as he walked over to the door and opened it up. Peering down, he found himself smiling beneath his mask as he saw who was waiting on the other side.
"Snowflake?" He uttered, causing the Kitsune pup to wag both her tails in delight. "Oh, my sweet baby girl! Come here!"
At those words, Snowflake instantly leapt up into Mick's open arms, allowing him to scoop her up into a soft embrace. Seeing his beloved pet after the day he had yesterday, Mick felt like a tremendous weight had been lifted off his shoulders, if only for a brief moment. All of a sudden, Mick noticed something about Snowflake that made him smirk under his mask.
"And what is this around your chops, young lady?" he asked teasingly, giving the little fox a playful boop on the nose.
Realising that she still had crumbs all over her muzzle after eating that sausage pastry on the way here, Snowflake quickly turned her head away and tried to wipe them off with her paw. However, it was in vain since she was obviously already caught out, especially when she unintentionally let out a tiny burp.
"You've been pinching food from Chef again, haven't you?" Mick continued, enjoying every moment of his little pet's bashfulness. "I swear, you've become quite the little greedy-guts ever since we came to this place."
The moment Mick said those words, Snowflake's bashfulness instantly faded away. Lifting her nose in the air she let out a small huff as if she was just offended with a distasteful insult. In a way, it was almost as if she were accusing Mick of calling her fat.
"Don't take that tone with me," Mick retorted, turning her so she was facing him again. "You're the one who's gotten too used to high-quality treats, Missy."
Watching the exchange between Mick and his pet, Buzz once again found himself trying to stifle his laughter. It was like watching a father scolding his little girl for being bratty.
"Do you want me to leave the two of you alone?" he snickered, trying not to laugh at his own joke.
Mick, however, wasn't amused.
"Shut up," he said, giving the Imp a deadpanned glare along with Snowflake.
Choosing to ignore Buzz's cackling for now, Mick once again turned his attention to his precious pet. Giving her a small tickle under her chin, to which she gave a happy little purr, he finally caught sight of the envelope tied to the front of Snowflake's collar.
"What's this?" he muttered, ripping the envelope off and opening it after placing Snowflake down on his bed. Unfolding the letter within, he found himself surprised by what was written on it:
Dear Mick,
I know this may come as a surprise, but if this letter finds you, then it means that Snowflake has made us both proud and allowed me to get in contact with you since I don't know if you have a new Hellphone or not.
On that note, you're probably wondering why I'm writing to you in the first place. Well, let's just say my mother has got me on this idiotic task for the next month so I won't be able to meet you for our weekly talks until after that.
If you could send a reply to this letter with Snowflake to me, I'd love to tell you more if I can. I really could use a kind word right about now.
Your friend,
Octavia.
After finishing the letter, Mick looked back down at the two-tailed fox on his bed and gave her a scratch behind the ear.
"Snowflake," he said. "You really are the best."
At those words, a smug look spread across Snowflake's face. One that practically screamed the words: "Yeah, I know."
A short while later, Reginald was walking through one of the upstairs corridors, checking on certain areas of the house for any signs of unfinished tasks by the rest of the staff.
DING!
Suddenly his attention was caught by the ringing of a small bell coming from his right. Turning his head, the Butler found himself caught completely by surprise when he saw the dumbwaiter door open, even more so when he saw what was inside.
"Hmm?"
Before he even had the chance to contemplate what he was witnessing, Snowflake jumped out of the dumbwaiter and made her way down the corridor towards Octavia's bedroom. Watching the little fox disappear around the corner, the Imp merely let out yet another one of his signature sighs.
Back inside her room, Octavia sat at her desk, looking through the files her mother had given her. Even though she would have preferred to just read one of her books while she waited for Snowflake to come back, she reluctantly thought it best to make a start on the task her mother had given her, if only to get her off her back for a while. Suddenly, she heard a faint scratching from the other side of her door. Smiling with a mix of relief and delight, the Goetia Princess quickly rose from her chair and rushed over towards it. To no surprise, it was a familiar white fox waiting for her on the other side.
"Snowflake!" she exclaimed, quickly scooping Snowflake up in her arms and closing the door behind her. "Do you have it?"
As if to answer her question, the Kitsune pup proudly tilted her head and showed off the folded-up paper stuffed under her collar. The moment Octavia saw that, she couldn't help but give Snowflake a happy squeeze.
"Oh, you brilliant little messenger," she said, placing the tiny fox on her bed, and placing two treats in front of her after taking them from her pocket. "Here you go, sweetie."
Wagging her tails with joy, Snowflake gladly wasted no time in stuffing her face with her well-deserved reward. Meanwhile, Octavia carefully took the paper out from under her collar and proceeded to read what Mick had written.
666 7141 3931
"A phone number?" she thought aloud, pulling out her Hellphone.
Did Mick finally get a new Hellphone? That must have been the case if he was sending something like this with Snowflake in response to the letter she wrote. After typing in the number on her phone, rather than risking her mother possibly overhearing her, Octavia chose to take the safer option and send a simple text instead.
-Mick?
It wasn't much of a conversation starter, she will admit, but after everything this morning, she thought it best to keep things simple. At first, Octavia got no reply, causing her to fear that she may have made a mistake, however, after about a minute of waiting…
-Hey Octi,
For the first time that entire day, Octavia was finally able to genuinely smile.
Snowflake's Diary: Entry 13
Diary, I'm a fucking genius! As you know, I've been living with the youngest member of the Owl people over the last few weeks, and sure as hell, I'm loving every second of it! I call her Aunt Octi now. Why? Because she's fucking awesome! Not only does she give good tummy rubs, but she's fun to snuggle with and has a stockpile of my favourite treats hidden in her room somewhere. Sure, I can try to sniff them out and try to grab them all at once, but as Aunt Octi loves to say, I'm a GOOD girl, and no way in hell am I gonna fuck that up.
Anyways, after Aunt Octi's parents were shaking their whole house with their shouting yesterday, I noticed how upset Aunt Octi was when she left. (I was hiding under the bed at the time) So I thought to myself, what can I do to cheer her up? Then I figured I should go get daddy, after all, he always manages to find a way to make her smile… unfortunately that turned out to be a massive bust since the both of them left the house before I could do anything! Aw well, at least I wasn't bored. I passed the time by stealing something from the resident bitch's underwear drawer and burying it in the backyard.
In any case, I was not going to give up so easily. After seeing how angry Aunt Octi's mom made her this morning, I set my plan into motion. All it took was a couple of cutesy faces and Aunt Octi was putty in my paws. After that, all I had to do was offer up the idea of simply sending a letter, then sneak down to find daddy like the badass ninja that I am. One quick reply later and BOOM! Aunt Octi is smiling again! As I said, I'm a fucking genius!
Well, that's all I got for now, diary. Speak to you again soon. Bye!
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Thank you all for following this story and for all your comments. However, due to time restraints, compulsory overtime of my day job, and the desire for some R&R. The next chapter of Owlette and the Cat will be postponed until January 7th. After that, my cowriters and I shall resume our normal schedule. Until then, here's wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.